Spinning Platters – Page 342 – Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds

SF Sketchfest Review: The Paul F Tompkins Show w/ Grant Lee Phillips, Dave Foley, Illeana Douglas, Dave Gruber Allen, and Picnicface

grant lee paul thompkins — The soul of Andy Kaufman blurred this photo

I have always considered music and comedy to be kindred spirits. Both art forms require a mastery of rhythm and delivery to pull off well, and much of music and comedy seems to be inspired by the same general subjects: relationships, politics, and religion. This may be why some of the funniest people on earth are musicians, and most of the great comedians are also very talented musicians.

SF Sketchfest has been working at blurring those lines for nine years now, but last night’s Paul F Tompkins performance was the one of the best fusions of the two that I have ever experienced. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: The Paul F Tompkins Show w/ Grant Lee Phillips, Dave Foley, Illeana Douglas, Dave Gruber Allen, and Picnicface”

New Release Round Up 1/12/10 – 42 Instant Album Reviews

Here are 42 reviews that cover three weeks. Lots of stuff has happened in the past three days. Most notably, a couple of musician deaths and the whole mass crisis thing in Haiti. I think Heidi Montag’s album may have brought upon these tragedies, sort of like a precursor to the apocalypse. Continue reading “New Release Round Up 1/12/10 — 42 Instant Album Reviews”

Spinning Platters Podcast Episode 14 – Too Much Jersey Shore

On episode 14 of the Spinning Platters podcast, we welcome Gary Baker of Universal Music Group for a discussion of his work, including an in-depth discussion about the continued place of major labels in today’s music. We also talk about some upcoming music and shows, and we talk way too much about the Jersey Shore.

You’ll also notice that we discuss Jay Reatard as “what Gary’s been listening to,” and you should know we recorded this the day before he passed away. This episode is dedicated to his memory.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Podcast Episode 14 — Too Much Jersey Shore”

Spinning Platters Picks Six (plus three) Music Nerd Gadgets from CES 2010

ParrotDrone — This product puts the nerd in music nerd.

In case you got too caught up by Polaroid announcing that Lady Gaga was going to be their new Artistic Director, and missed all the actual music gadgets that came out in Sin City this week, well then Spinning Platters is here to help in your misguided priorities! We at Spinning Platters love our conventions especially when it’s a “convention of nerds.” See, they’re our people, and we of course love all the amazing toys that get announced there, and just in general love Las Vegas. So, here are the top six nine gadgets to come out of CES 2010. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six (plus three) Music Nerd Gadgets from CES 2010”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: January 13th-January 19th

This week is the beginning of Sketchfest. We already have that covered, so how about some music? Eh? How about Styx? Did you know Styx were playing? I think it’s awesome that you will get to see Styx.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: January 13th-January 19th”

Album Review: Spoon – Transference

Amoeba Records always has been and always will be my favorite store to purchase music. Obviously, I’ve joined the legions of savvy music aficionados online and freely choose to spend an inordinate amount of time on the likes of lala.com, The Hype Machine, and Pandora…to name a few. Yet part of me still loves the feeling of vinyl (actually, who doesn’t) and, yes, the occasional CD in my hands. I have been told time and again that I am one of the few people anyone knows that still buys CDs. So what? I don’t claim to be all that cool. Therefore, when Amoeba recently announced they were having a “clearance CD blowout,” I immediately headed to the Berkeley location after work and rummaged through the thousands of marked down discs. Continue reading “Album Review: Spoon — Transference”

A Music Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest 2010

Etch-A-Sketch-Guitar--37541 — Music and Sketches? Get It? Ha Ha Ha!

As San Franciscans, we love festivals. We also love music and laughs, and it seems that line is blurring between the two worlds more & more everyday. And, although our music festivals have been littered with comedians quite a bit lately, especially with Tenacious D functioning as headliner at least year’s Outside Lands Festival, the music leaking in to the comedy festivals has been a bit subtler. That’s why we’re here to guide you through the music of San Francisco’s Sketchfest. There is lot going on, and a lot of very special things that will pique the interest of any music nerd.

Continue reading “A Music Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest 2010”

Album Review: Fucked Up – Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009

The band Fucked Up are. No one can live the punk rock dream anymore in 2010, right? Whatever. This odds and sods two-disc compilation details the swath that this group has cut across North America from their Canadian base.

Fucked Up sound like heavy rock and roll. Buzzsaw guitar hooks whir like electric razors, danceable drumbeats, and size-of-a-small-bear frontman Pink Eyes’ winsome RRRARRRR-GARRRRGH riding gleefully atop the mix like a dolphin frolicking in a ship’s wake.

With b-side cuts, import singles, kinda sorta cast-off cover tunes, Couple Tracks shows the breadth of how far Fucked Up have gone and how far they’re willing to go.

Fucked Up sound like heavy rock and roll. Buzzsaw guitar hooks whir like electric razors, drumbeats compel you to jump about, and their size-of-a-small-bear frontman Pink Eyes’ winsome RRRARRRR-GARRRRGH rides gleefully atop the mix like a dolphin frolicking in a ship’s wake.

With b-side cuts, import singles, kinda sorta cast-off cover tunes, Couple Tracks shows the breadth of how far Fucked Up have gone and how far they’re willing to go. Continue reading “Album Review: Fucked Up – Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009”

Book Review: A Heartbeat And A Guitar: Johnny Cash The Making Of Bitter Tears by Antoninio D’Ambrosio

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Johnny Cash might be the most chronicled musician in pop music history. There are literally hundreds of biographies, authorized and unauthorized. The best, of course, is Cash by Johnny Cash. This book is not a biography of Johnny Cash. It’s the story of a record, one of the greatest records ever made.

Continue reading “Book Review: A Heartbeat And A Guitar: Johnny Cash The Making Of Bitter Tears by Antoninio D’Ambrosio”

Album Review: Vampire Weekend – Contra

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been impatiently waiting for this album to leak for months. The teasing release of “Horchata” made me super excited (it is still available as a free download on the band’s website). Then, the next leak brought “White Sky” which made me stop and wonder if I really would like the album, or if Vampire Weekend would take it too far from their roots of mixing indie rock with beautifully complex afro-beats. After 24 hours of listening pleasure I can tell you that Contra is everything you wanted whether you knew it consciously or not. Somehow Vampire Weekend took 2008’s indie-juggernaut Vampire Weekend and ran it through a strainer, taking it apart and putting it back together with a controlled modern twist giving us a record that is smart and fresh, while still sounding like the band we know and love. There’s a heavy hand with the production polish, but that is what makes Contra different enough to keep it exciting and new. Continue reading “Album Review: Vampire Weekend — Contra”